If you needed another reminder of just how woefully primitive public transportation is in Australia compared to Japan, even the tiny toy versions of their high-speed bullet trains now float on magnets. And with such little friction, Takara Tomy’s new Linear Liner model can hit scale speeds of over 480km/h.
The Linear Liner train floats about two millimetres above the series of magnets embedded in the set’s clear plastic trick, and as each one is powered on and off, they serve to pull the cars along just like how the real bullet trains in Japan work. It’s the exact same engineering principles.
The tiny train can actually only hit speeds of somewhere around 8km/h, but when you scale that up it would actually be travelling at just over 480km/h in real life. And because it’s so small, watching it tear around its tiny track at high speeds is still very impressive.
Available later this year in September, the Linear Liner won’t come with the 10 AA batteries it requires for its charging base, but it will include a price tag just north of $US300. You didn’t think those high-speed bullet trains in Japan have come down in price, did you? [Takara Tomy via Akihabara News]